[Rehabilitation of a 79-year-old patient with paraplegia of the legs following removal of a cavernous hemangioma at the level of the 8th thoracic vertebrae].

A case example serves to consider the problems involved in the issue of whether higher-age paraplegic patients can be rehabilitated. What is needed in these cases, in particular in the first few weeks, is careful clinical-neurological examination in view of identifying, the phase of spinal shock being over, any signs of a possibly incomplete spinal lesion (e.g., extensor hyperactivity) and deciding the course to be taken giving due consideration to age-related factors. The amounts of time and therapeutic resources needed certainly being considerable especially in the rehabilitation of older paraplegic patients, such efforts should, however, be undertaken when motivation and mental acuity, hence patient ability to cooperate, are good; helplessness, dependence, and change of environment (by referral to a nursing ward) will, in particular in the old person, almost invariably entail rapid decompensation.